Piano-action



(N0 Model.)

J. H. BUTLER.

PIANO AGTION.

No. 593,552. Patented Nov. 9,1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT omen.

JAMES H. BUTLER, OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH G. EBERSOLE, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

PIANO-ACTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 593,552, dated November 9, 1897.

Application filed March 22,1897. $erial No. 628,698. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. BUTLER, a citizen of the United States, residingat Columbia Heights, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piano-Actions,-

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that part of a piano known as the action, and has for its object to provide a simple and improved device or mechanism which may be so adjusted as to prevent the hammers striking the strings when the performer is practicing on the keys, thus rendering the instrument noiseless, but permitting the keys to be depressed, and allowing the performer to familiarize himself therewith, and which will furthermore possess advantages in point of inexpensiveness and durability in construction, ease of operation, and general efficiency.

To this end the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention pertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe it, referring to the accompanying drawings,

in which- Figure I is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation,of an ordinary piano-action for upright pianos, showing my improvement combined therewith and illustrating by dotted lines the position the parts will occupy when my improvement is in use. Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of a portion of the hammer and check rails and a part of the controllingrod. Fig. 3 is a detail View illustrating a modification in the manner of operating the controlling-rod. Fig. at is a detail View of a pedal to be used with said modification and showing a portion of the piano-casing. Fig. 5 is a fragmental view of a portion of the piano-casing, showing a slot therein for the operation of the pedal; and Fig. 6 is a fragmental sectional view showing a modified manner of supporting the check-rail.

In the drawings I have illustrated an ordinary piano-action, such as is used in upright pianos, and as its construction and operation are well known I shall refer only to such parts and the operation thereof as will be necessary to the full and clear understanding of my im provement.

A represents one of the key-blocks,which,as usual, is located at the end of the keyboard (not shown) and is provided with a vertical slot Ct, in which is fulcrumed a hand-lever A, to the lower end of which is pivotally secured one end of a sliding bar B, which lies and is supported horizontally below the keys 0 and is formed or provided at its inner end with an enlargement 13, having a forwardly beveled or inclined portion 1), which contacts with the lower end of the controlling-rod.

The controlling-rod D is supported in an upright position by means of brackets d, secured on suitable rails d and 01 within the casing of the piano. Each of these brackets is provided with an opening through which the controlling-rod D passes to allow it a free vertical movement. As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the lower end of the controlling-rod D normally rests on the upper surface of the enlargement B of the sliding bar B, and its upper end engages a catch or arm 0 on the check-rail E, which is secured to the lower portion of the hammer-rail F by means of hinges 6, located at suitable distances apart between said rails. Interposed between the check'rail and hammer-rail is a spring 6 under a twisted tension and whose ends are secured to each of said rails, re spectively, (see Fig. 2,) and has a tendency to force and hold the check-rail in a lowered position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig.1 of the drawings.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modification in the construction used for operating the controlling-rod D, which consists in pivotally securing to the casing of the piano below the keyboard a lever g, whose inner end contacts with the lower end of the rod D and whose outer portion is normally depressed by means of a spring 9', secured to the piano-casing. To the outer end of the lever g is pivotally secured a bar or rod g whose lower end is pivotally connected to a pedal G, which extends through a slot h in the casing II of the piano. This slot, as shown in Fig 5 of the drawings, is provided in its lower part with a shoulder 7t, against which the pedal G mayrest when it is desired to retain the controlling-rod in a lowered position and to prevent the hammer I from striking the strings I.

In Fig. 6 of the drawings I have shown a portion of the brackets M, on the upper end of which the hammer-rail F rests and to which is pivotally secured in its upper part by means of pins in the check-rail E, which is provided, as before, on one of its ends with a catch 0 to engage the controlling-rod D and which when in its lowered position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6, will occupy a position to restrict the movement of the backcatcher.

In operation my device is simple and as follows: W'hen it is desired to prevent the ham mers striking the strings, or, in other words, to throw the action out of gear, the handlevcr may be placed to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, which will force the enlargement 13 on the sliding bar 13 rearwardly and from under the lower end of the controlling-rod D, which rod will be gradu ally lowered by reason of the inclined portion Z) of the enlargement l3, and as the catch 0 on the check-rail E rests on the top of said rod and the said rail is under the tension of the spring c it will be held in a lowered position, as shown by dot-ted lines in the last named figure, when the back-catcher t' on the knuckle 1" will strike the felt strip 6 thereon, thus allowing the hammer I and its shank 1 to assume the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1,, which, as will be observed, is quite a distance from the strings. In using the modification shown in Figs. 3 and t of the drawings, it is only necessary to depress the outer end of the pedal G until it is secured under the shoulder 7t of the slot 7b in the piano-casing, which operation will force the bar g upward and the inner end of the lever g downward, thus permitting the descent of the controlling-rod D, which rests on the innor end of said lever, and at the same time allowing the check-rail E to drop and be held down by means of the spring 0, which, as before stated, is placed between said rail and the hammer-rail. In order to again permit the parts of the action to operate so as to strike the strings, the hand-lever A may be placed to the position shown by continuous lines in Fig. 1, which will cause the controlling-rod D to rise on the inclined portion b of the enlargement IS and lift the catch 0 and the cheek-rail E, so as to be out of reach of the back-catcher 'i on the knuckle t" on the hammer-shank. lVhen the modification is used, the pedal G may be released from the shoulder 7L and allowed to rise upwardly in the slot 7L, which operation, through the medium of the bar g and leverq, will cause the controlling-rod to be lifted, and thereby raise the check-rail.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a piano-action the combination with a vertically-movable controlling-rod, having means to lift and lower the same, of a ham-- mer-rail, a check-rail hinged to the hamn1errail and a catch on said check-rail engaging the upper part of the eontrolling-rod, substantially as described.

2. In a piano-action the combination with a vertically-movablc rod, having means to lift and lower the same, of a hammer-rail, a check-rail hinged to the hammer-rail, a catch on said cheek-rail engaging the upper part of the controlling-rod, and a spring secured to the hammer-rail and check-rail and adapted to force and hold the latter-uamed rail in a lowered position, substantially as described.

3. In a piano-action the combination oi. a vertically-movable controllingrod, with a hammer-rail, a spring-actuated check-rail hinged to the hammer-rail, a catch on the check-rail engaging the upper portion of the controlling-rod, a sliding bar having an inclined and enlarged portion to contact with the lower end of the cmitrolling-rod, and a hand-lever suitably fulcru mod and connected to the outer end of the sliding bar, substantially as described.

In a piano-action the COll'lblllltlOll with a vertical]y-Inovable controlling rod, having means to lift and lower the same, a check-rail pivotally secured and supported at a point to restrict, when in a lowered position, the movcment of the back-catcher, and a catch on said. check-rail engaging the upper part of the con trolling-rod, substantially as described.

JAMES ll. liUlIilCl-t.

IVitnesses:

Guns. 07 T1 LLMAN, E. A. DUoc'aN. 

